NORTHERN Rail has launched a competition to find Cheshire’s budding train fans and artists.

The UK’s largest rail company wants to give under fives the chance to have their very own ticket to travel, despite the fact they travel free of charge.

Richard Allan, Commercial Director for Northern, added: “We know that young children are excited to travel by train and can be disappointed when the conductor comes around to check tickets when they don’t have one.

"We want to give all the children who travel on our services the chance to have a special ticket, get it checked and to give them the opportunity to learn from a young age what it means travel on a train.”

The idea was originally the brainchild of one of Northern’s managers, who sadly passed away suddenly in March 2013.

He carried out a small project with schools in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire to design tickets for children on that route – which was a huge success – and now Northern will roll the campaign out network wide in his memory.

The competition will be split between regions across the Northern network, meaning there will be one winner from Cheshire – with entrants ten years old and below.

The winning design will be printed to the same size and shape of traditional rail tickets, credited with the child’s name and age, and given to children under five travelling around Cheshire from Northern’s ticket offices.

The winner will also receive £20 worth of vouchers to spend in WHSmith and a family day ticket to travel anywhere on Northern’s trains.

Richard added: “Our late colleague, Simon, was a fantastic ambassador for Northern and the ‘Simon Says’ message that will be on the reverse of every ticket is a tribute to his passion and enthusiasm in reaching out to young people and encouraging them to use the railway responsibly.”

Designs can be emailed to simonsays@northernrail.org or posted into Simon Says Competition, Communications Department, 6 Floor Northern House, 9 Rougier Street, York, YO1 6HZ to be received by Friday 1 May 2015.

Visit northernrail.org/simonsays for more information.